In a viral video of the incident “This man you are looking at killed his son with a gun. He is Cosmos Ude’s father. He shot his son dead because he ate food.”
A 70-year-old resident of Eziama village in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State in the South East region of Nigeria, identified as Theophilus Ede, has shot his 27-year-old son dead for eating the remaining cooked food in the house.
In a viral video of the incident “This man you are looking at killed his son with a gun. He is Cosmos Ude’s father. He shot his son dead because he ate food.”
Other residents of the area who gathered around the man whose hands were tied behind and his legs tied and forced to lay down resting his head on the back of the lifeless body of his son, reigned abuses on him.
“You are very wicked. You are not a good person at all. You have a very wicked heart. Very hard man. He even shot in the air (before he was caught). You killed your son just because I took food and ate. Ordinary cooked food.”
When contacted, the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Chinaka Chioma Maureen, who confirmed the incident said that the suspect had been arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation.
The police spokesperson told SaharaReporters that “On February 26, 2024, at about 3:45pm, we got information at Isiochi Divisional headquarters that one 70-year-old Theophilus Ede of Eziama Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State shot and killed his 27-year-old son, Sunday Ede.
“Detectives from Umunneochi Police headquarters have made an arrest, recovered exhibits, deposited the corpse at the mortuary and transferred the suspect to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.”
There have been calls from activists and some lawmakers for President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to legalise and democratise access and opportunity to own and use firearms and ammunition in Nigeria.
The proponents of gun legalisation in Nigeria have argued that the police to population ratio in Nigeria is ‘grossly insufficient’ and that ‘there are more illegal guns than there are actual human beings in the most populous country of Black people on earth.’
Also pointing at the escalating insecurity in the country, they have noted this dreadful situation means that ‘most ordinary Nigerians are practically sitting ducks for Islamist terrorists, Fulani herders, and violent criminals.’
However, some who have opposed the call for firearms and ammunition legalisation in the country argued that if the government legalized firearms and ammunition, many people would misuse it and killings and crimes will increase in Nigeria.